Remodeling a Japanese-style room into a Western-style room, with Advantages and Disadvantages and Costs

Today's idea is to change a Japanese-style room to a Western-style room. In some old houses and family-type condominiums, you can see that one of the rooms is a Japanese-style room, but using this Japanese-style room is surprisingly difficult. In the case of renting, it is not possible to renovate the room without permission, but in the case of owning a house, there is also an option to renovate the Japanese style room to a Western style room to improve convenience. Let's check the advantages and disadvantages, and the price quotes together.
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●What are the benefits of reforming a Japanese-style room into a Western-style room?
Changing a Japanese-style room to a Western-style room by remodeling or renovating will change the atmosphere of the entire room, creating a modern impression and increasing convenience. Let's look at the main ones.

Easy to clean and care
A Japanese-style room is a tatami mat, but if it is not properly cared for, it can cause mold and deterioration. In addition, it is necessary to dry it regularly, and if it gets damaged, it will be replaced. If you change it to a Western-style room and use it as tile or wooden flooring, you can easily clean it with a vacuum cleaner or a rag, and you do not need to change it. If you spill your drink, you can handle it easily.

You can put your favorite furniture
In the case of a Japanese-style room, the tatami mat will be damaged, so heavy furniture cannot be installed, but a Western-style room can be installed without worrying about such problems. Also, since many of the furniture is designed to be installed in a Western-style room, the number of choices for furniture to purchase increases, making it easier to choose furniture that matches the atmosphere of the room.

Easy to care for and barrier-free
If you need home care in the future, you will often change from a futon to a bed, so a flooring that makes it easier to set up a bed will be easier to prepare. In addition, even when it comes to using a wheelchair indoors, it is easy to maintain the flow line and move easily even if it is barrier-free.

●Points to note when reforming a Japanese-style room into a Western-style room
If you are accustomed to spending time in a Japanese-style room, you may find it surprisingly inconvenient to remodel it into a Western-style room. In particular, the following two points need to be taken into consideration, so let's consider whether inconvenience will occur before executing reform.

One's feet get cold easily
Compared to a tatami mat in a Japanese-style room, the flooring in a Western-style room tends to feel colder, and it can get cold from your feet, especially in winter. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures such as spending time with socks and slippers, or introducing floor heating.

Easy to hear the household noises
The flooring is harder than the tatami mat and does not absorb shock easily, so household noises such as walking sounds can be heard easily. In the case of condominiums and apartments, it is especially easy to hear the sound in the room directly below, so you must be careful during times such as early morning or late night.

●The idea and cost of reforming a Japanese-style room into a Western-style room
The cost of reforming into a Western-style room will vary depending on the size and facilities of the original Japanese-style room, and the cost will also vary. Typical examples of remodeling are the five points introduced in the table below, so let's know the respective market price when using general building materials. 

Reform Type	Market Price (for 6-8 tatami mats)
Change Tatami mats to Flooring	200,000 yen to 300,000 yen
Wall and Ceiling renovation​	200,000 yen to 300,000 yen
Change Fusuma sliding door to Sliding door or Swing open door	100,000 yen to 150,000 yen
Change the Japanese style closet to a closet	150,000 yen to 250,000 yen
Overall remodeling into a Western-style room	500,000 yen to 800,000 yen

Change tatami mats to flooring
Since tatami mats are thicker than flooring, you cannot remove them and spread the flooring to match the height. Therefore, the groundwork to make the foundation is also a set. Including this kind of construction, 200,000 to 300,000 yen is the market price of the remodeling. The price range is wide, because the price varies depending on the flooring material. It has the characteristic that the price is higher for the solid wood that is cut and processed as it is, and is cheaper for the laminated wood that is processed by synthesizing from various woods.

Wall and ceiling renovation
The walls and ceiling of a Japanese-style room are often made of materials that have a different atmosphere from that of a Western-style room, and if you remodel it into a Western-style room with the Japanese-style atmosphere remaining on the wallpaper and ceiling, you will feel something strange. The cost of remodeling including the ceiling is about 200,000 to 300,000 yen, and the price also changes depending on the material and the area of the room.

Changed Fusuma sliding door to sliding door or door
The partition of the Japanese-style room is generally made of Fusuma, but the construction to change it to a Western-style door costs 100,000 to 150,000 yen. However, if the number of doors is large or you want to give a high-class feeling, the price will increase accordingly.

Changed Closet for Futon to Western closet
The cost of changing the appearance of the closet and the contents to a closet is about 150,000 to 250,000 yen, and it depends on the size and function. If you want a walk-in closet, the budget goes up, and it costs about 500,000 yen.

Overall remodeling into a Western-style room
If you want to pack all these reforms, please estimate the total budget is around 500,000 to 800,000 yen. The cost varies greatly depending on the contents of the renovation, such as the area of the room and the building materials used, so it is a good idea to decide which part to spend and which part to save.

Remodeling a Japanese-style room where tatami mats are difficult to maintain or feel inconvenient into a Western-style room will be easier to maintain and will be more convenient when home care is required. The cost of the entire renovation is about 500,000 to 800,000 yen when using common building materials on 6 to 8 tatami mats, and the cost can be reduced by carefully selecting the contents of the remodeling for each construction site. If you want to effectively use a Japanese-style room, why not consider remodeling it into a Western-style room?